Metal forming machine having improved forming slide means



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z 0 M 5 4 1 w 3 a m w 4 m 4 5% a a z Tw 11 um I u Z 7 n0 w lw. u

J O I 2 M i t WW 6 3b W W z E 2 4 :1 1 .u n H 4 z 1 T 4/ v 9 5 n f I k 1 o 2 u :1 ,W V n E g i 6 w u n i I, m ill 5 0 E m a m BY QM'V flTTORN'E'YS'.

Sept. 10, 1968 F. T. GOODWIN METAL FORMING MACHINE HAVING IMPROVED FORMING SLIDE MEANS Filed Aug. 17. 1966 Sept. 10, 1968 F. T. GOODWIN 3,400,569

IMPROVED FORMING SLIDE MEANS METAL FORMING MACHINE HAVING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 17. 1966 United States Patent 3,400,569 METAL FORMING MACHINE HAVING IMPROVED FORMING SLIDE MEANS Frederick Thurlow Goodwin, Stratford, Conn., assignor to The U.S. Baird Corporation, Stratford, Conn, a

corporation of Connecticut Filed Aug. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 572,951 9 Claims. (Cl. '72395) This invention relates to an improvement in metal forming machines, primarily of the type known as four slide machines in which a bed or frame is provided with a Work station at which selectively operated, multiple tool-carrying slides are located for performing various forming operations at the station on a metal wire or ribbon workpiece fed through the machine, and more particularly to an improvement in the means for actuating one or more of the slides.

Machines of this type usually have a generally rectangular elongated bed on which the forming work station is located nearer to one of the longitudinal ends, usually the right hand end, thus allowing a large free area on the bed, usually on the left, on which various auxiliary forming equipment, such as press units for performing preliminary operations, for example, piercing, punching, blanking or the like, may be mounted. In the prior art form of these machines, the forming slides are usually fitted to the bed of the machine in slideways formed in the top of the bed, and are operated directly from driving cams located upon the usual drive shaft that peripherally surround the bed. This is a satisfactory arrangement for the three slides which are located at the one, usually right, end and adjacent sides of the bed where the forming station is located, but it presents serious manufacturing and operational problems in connection with the long, usually left hand, slide which has its tool end remote from its driving cam. In the prior art form, the left hand slide is extremely long and requires a slideway that extends longitudinally over most of the top of the bed; this presents critical problems in the manufacture and fitting of this slide to the bed of the machine. Furthermore, as this slide must traverse the free area of the bed where the auxiliary forming equipment, such as press units, are mounted, it causes assembly and maintenance difficulties for the slide, as well as creating difficulties in the mounting of the auxiliary forming equipment which must extend transversely across the area Where this slide is mounted and operates in the machine bed.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention d to provide an improved actuating means for the usual left hand tool in a four slide machine which does not extend across the top of the bed to the extent of the prior arangement and, therefore, eliminates the manufacturing, operational, and maintenance problems of the prior arrangement.

Another object is to provide an improved forming slide means in the form if a linkage arrangement for a forming slide in a metal forming machine which provides an increased mechanical advantage at the end or working portion of the forward stroke of the slide.

To accomplish these objects, in one form a metal forming machine is provided of the four slide type having a generally rectangular elongated bed, and a forming station at which are located a plurality of forming slides which are mounted for reciprocating movement on the top of said bed and arranged to be moved towards one another in proper selectively predetermined synchronization. Interconnected drive shafts are mounted peripherally around the bed in suitable bearings so as to be parallel to and spaced from the sides of the bed, and camming means are secured upon said drive shafts for imparting a desired motion to said slides. Cam followers are directly mounted on all of said forming slides except on the slide which is located farthest from its camming means. This latter slide includes a cam follower, actuated by its camming means, which is operatively connected to a linkage assembly which includes an elongated actuating link disposed beneath the bed and a toggle linkage arrangement for imparting reciprocating motion to the latter slide.

Other objects and further details of that which I believe to be obvious and my invention will be clear from the following description and claims taken with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a four slide machine incorporating the invention, from which the usual auxiliary forming equipment, such as press units, has been removed;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 22 of FIG. 1, showing an improved forming slide and actuating arrangement constructed in accordance with the present invention showing the improved forming slide means in advanced position in solid lines and in retracted position in dot-dash lines;

FIG. 3 is a sectional "view taken substantially along line 3-3 of FIG. 2, showing the mounting of the drive arm lever which forms a part of the forming slide actuating means; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 44 of FIG. 2, showing the toggle linkage and the forming slide.

With particular reference to the drawings, there is illustrated an improved four slide machine incorporating the invention which comprises a generally rectangular elongated bed or frame 10 having a large free auxiliary forming area 11 at the left and provided with a forming station at the right including slideways nearer to one of the ends of the bed with which are mounted four reciprocable forming slides 12, 14, 16 and 18, referred to respectively as the front slide 12, the rear slide 14, the right hand slide 16 and the left hand slide 18. The four slides are mounted for reciprocating movement around the forming opening 20 forming in the bed 10, through which in operation various forming elements may project and the finished products may fall. Each of the slides is provided with a tool mounting portion 22 upon which may be mounted a great variety of forming tools to perform various forming operations.

Suitable actuating means are provided for reciprocating the slides, in a selectively predetermined manner, such as the grooved drive cams 24, 26, 28 and 30, which are mounted, respectively upon the four operating drive shafts 32, 34, 36 and 38, which are, in turn, mounted in suitable bearings in the usual bearing portions of the bed 10. The shafts are interconnected by similar sets of bevel gears 40, and may be driven in unison from a single driving power unit, for example, through the main drive gear 42 mounted upon the shaft 36. The configurations of the grooves in the cams, of course are selectively determined in accordance with known principles in the four slide machine art so as to impart the desired programmed timed motion to each of the slides through cam following means associated with the slides. The slides 12, 14 and 16 have cam follower rollers 44, :6 and 48, respectively, mounted directly upon them which, in turn, ride in their associated cam grooves and thereby CRUTJC them to be reciprocated in their guideways.

The improved forming slide means comprising the left hand slide 18 is made substantially the same length as the other slides 12, 14 and 15, and therefore is substantially shorter than the usual prior art left hand slide; however, it is spaced from its cam follower roller 56 by the length of the area 11 on the elongated bed 10. A linkage type actuating mechanism is provided which primarily extends below the bed and operationally connects the cam follower roller 50, which rides in the cam groove 51, and the left hand slide 18, thereby enabling imparting of reciprocating motion to the slide in operation. At the end of the bed adjacent the cam 30, a lever supporting bracket 52 including a base plate and two upstanding arms is rigidly secured to the left hand skirt 53 of the bed. The drive arm lever 54, which rotatably carries the cam follower roller at one of its ends and is pivotally secured to the elongated drive link 56 by the pivot pin 57 at its other end, is pivotally mounted upon the stationary pivot pin 58 which is carried by the upstanding arms of bracket 52. The elongated link 56, which is driven by one end of the drive arm lever 54, extends below the bed under the press area 11 and termina-tes substantially below an opening 60 formed in the bed, through which various other levers of the linkage assembly, to be described, extend and make a pivot pin connection at the left hand end of the left hand slide 18.

The end of the elongated link 56 located below the opening 60 is pivotally connected to a pivot pin 61 carried by one end of the bell crank 62, which is pivotally secured on the stationary pivot pin 64, which is, in turn, fixed to depending walls of the bed. The bell crank 62 at its other end is pivotally connected to the connecting link 66, which carries the knee pin 63 of the toggle linkage comprising toggle links 72 and 74. The adjacent ends of the links 72 and 74 including the central lug 73 of link 72 and the bifurcated end 75 of link 74 are pivotally mounted on the knee pin 68, The distant ends of the toggle links 72 and 74 are pivotally secured respectively to the anchor block 76 and to the rear of the left hand slide 18 by pivot pins 78 and 30 respectively.

There is illustrated in FIG. 2 in phantom lines, a retracted position of the actuating linkage at which stage of operation the toggle linkage motion causes a relatively fast forward motion of the slide 18 while exerting relatively slight pressure. In FIG. 2 the actuating linkage is shown in solid lines in position where the slide 18 is at its forwardmost advanced point in which the toggle linkage 70 is disposed almost in a straight line, thus exerting a maximum pressure on the slide 18, but moving it relatively slowly.

As can be readily seen, this improved forming slide means arrangement, by comprising elements that are primarily disposed below the bed, eliminates the need for machining the very long left hand slideway in the top of the bed 10 which was necessary in the prior construction. The actuating linkage for the left hand slide pro vided by this invention leaves the press area 11 of the bed 10 completely free of any slide mechanism and thereby simplifies the mounting of auxiliary forming equipment, such as the press units. This provides simplified manufacture, operation and maintenance of the left hand forming slide means.

A further advantage provided by the improved left hand slide actuating mechanism resides in the toggle action which affords desirable initial quick low pressure slide action and a lnechanical advantage at the end of the forward stroke which produces slow high pressure slide action. Thus, although the motion at the cam is approximately equal to the motion which is provided at the slide, the action is such that the slide 18 starts forward at a relatively fast speed at a time when the load upon the slide in the lightest. As the toggle links 72 and 74 approach a straight line relationship, the speed of the slide decreases and relatively greater endwise pressure is produced for performing such operations as coining and the like.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the advantageous results derived fro-m the toggle linkage employed in the present invention may also be desired for one or more of the other slides. In such case, the linkage may be simply modified for shorter slide applications by shortening the appropriate links.

It is understood that the present disclosure .has been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A metal forming machine comprising: a bed; drive shafts mounted upon said bed and arranged to be driven by a driving means; camming means secured to and operated by each of said drive shafts; a plurality of forming slides mounted on said bed and operative at a forming station; and connecting means for operatively associating each of said forming slides with its respective camming means, wherein said connecting means comprises, for at least one of said slides, a cam follower and a linkage means including an elongated link disposed entirely beneath said bed for connecting said cam follower to said one slide.

2. The metal forming machine defined in claim 1 wherein said linkage means further includes a drive lever means, one end of which carries said cam follower and the other end of which is pivotally connected to said elongated link; said lever means being pivotally carried by said bed.

3. The metal forming machine defined in claim 1 wherein said linkage means further includes a toggle linkage assembly connecting said elongated link to said one slide, whereby said toggle linkage is arranged to provide an increased mechanical advantage at the end of the forward stroke of said one slide.

4. The metal forming machine defined in claim 3 wherein said toggle linkage comprises: a first toggle link pivotally secured to the rear of said one slide; a second toggle link pivotally secured to said bed; and a connecting link pivotally secured to the adjacent ends of said first and second toggle links and pivotally operatively connecting said toggle links to said elongated link.

5. The metal forming machine defined in claim 1 wherein said bed defines an aperture therethrough located adjacent the end of said one slide farthest from said forming station, through which some of said linkage means extends from said elongated link disposed beneath said bed to said one slide mounted upon said bed.

6. The metal forming machine defined in claim 1 wherein said linkage means further includes a toggle linkage assembly connecting said elongated link to said one slide, said toggle linkage arranged to provide an increased mechanical advantage at the end of the forward stroke of said one slide; and wherein said bed defines an aperture therethrough, located adjacent the end of said one slide farthest from said forming station through which said toggle linkage assembly passes.

7. The metal forming machine defined in claim 1 wherein said linkage means further includes: a drive lever means, one end of which is connected to said cam follower and the other end of which is connected to said elongated link; said drive lever means being pivotally mounted upon a bracket which is secured to said bed; a toggle linkage assembly comprising a first toggle link pivotall secured to said one slide, a second toggle link pivotally secured to said bed and a connecting link pivotally secured to the adjacent ends of said first and second toggle links and pivotally connecting said toggle links to an end of said elongated link; and wherein said bed defines an aperture therethrough, located adjacent the end of said one slide farthest from said forming station through which said toggle linkage passes.

8. The metal forming machine defined in claim 1 wherein a plurality of said slides are operatively associated with their respective carnmin means by a linkage means similar to the one which connects said one slide.

9. The metal forming machine defined in claim 7 Wherein a plurality of said slides are operatively associated with their respective carnming means by a linkage means similar to the one which connects said one slide.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

RONALD D. GREFE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A METAL FORMING MACHINE COMPRISING: A BED; DRIVE SHAFTS MOUNTED UPON SAID BED AND ARRANGED TO BE DRIVEN BY A DRIVING MEANS; CAMMING MEANS SECURED TO AND OPERATED BY EACH OF SAID DRIVE SHAFTS; A PLURALITY OF FORMING SLIDES MOUNTED ON SAID BED AND OPERATIVE AT A FORMING STATION; AND CONNECTING MEANS FOR OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATING EACH OF SAID FORMING SLIDES WITH ITS RESPECTIVE CAMMING MEANS, WHEREIN SAID CONNECTING MEANS COMPRISES, FOR AT LEAST ONE OF SAID SLIDES, A CAM FOLLOWER AND A LINKAGE MEANS INCLUDING AN ELONGATED LINK DISPOSED ENTIRELY BENEATH SAID BED FOR CONNECTING SAID CAM FOLLOWER TO SAID ONE SLIDE. 